Liquid-measuring device



Jan. 13, 1931. LAMAR 1,788,465

LIQUID MEASURING DEVICE Filed Sept. 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1 E. s.LAMAR 1,788,465

LIQUID MEASURING DEVICE Filed Sept. 15, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gvwentoz Iduo: Ma Q '7 Patented Jan. 13, i931 UNITED STATES.

- EDWARD s. LAMAR, or ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND LIQUID-MEASURING DEVICEApplication filed September13, 1929. Serial No. 392,371.

It is a well known fact today that gasoline may change in temperaturefrom the time of delivery to a service station or other place ofdistribution to the time of sale. This is true especially in the heat ofthesummer.

Then the gasoline is delivered in tank trucks that have been in the sunand is put into tanks buried under the ground. Immediately afterdelivery, a measurement of the volume of theliquid is made and thesettlement is made on the basis of that measurement. After the liquidhas been in the tank for a length of time sufiicient to allow the liquid,to assume the temperature of the cool underground l5 tank, ameasurement of the volume of the .liquid shows a decrease from theoriginal measurement due to contraction on cooling. The dealer, buyingand selling on the basis of volume without regard to changes intemperature, therefore suffers an appreciable loss in hot weather, histime of maximum business. In general, the'present invention has for itsobJect themeasurement of the quantity of any liquid in a container bweight or byvolume corrected for therma expansion or contractlon to someparticulartemperature taken as the standard temperature for suchmeasurements of liquid volume. Particular attention is called to theapplication of the device to the problem of obtaining a fair and'accurate measurement, of a quantity of gasoline after it is poured intoaburied gasolinetank at a filling station, whether the tank be empty orpartly filled. My device finds its highest degree of utility inconnection with tanks which are circular or oval in vertical sectionbecause in these shapes the area in horizontal cross-section varies atdifferent 40 heights. With this shape of tank, a' given quantity ofliquid (less than a full-tank quantity) dumped into the tank willraisethe level of liquid in the tank a greater distance when that levelis near the bottom or top than when said level is near the point ofgreatest horizontal cross-sectional area of the tank. 7

One embodiment is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming partof this application, in which- Fig. 1 is a face view of the floatandindicatmg mechanisms of the device;

Fig. 2 is 'a side View of the same mechanisms;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

The device consists of a broad flat main float a whichcould beconstructed of sheet metal. Through the float mare two tubes In and bwhich enable the float a to slide freely up and down rods 0 and 0 whichpass through the tubes and b and extend from top to bottom of theoval-shaped tank, Where they are respectively anchored. The rod 0 istoothed its entire length and is in mesh with a gear-wheel d which ismounted on a shaft 6. The shaft 6- is supported by its bearings whichconsist of holes drilled in a support 9. The support 9 is made of sheetmetal and is fastened to the float a by means of collars k and h on thetubes 72 and b. On the shaft 6. is mounted a pinion i which is in meshwith a gear j.' The ratio of the gearing is such that the movement ofthe float a from top to bottom of the tank along the rods 0 and 0 causesa complete revolution of the gear j. The gear 7' is mounted on a shaft70 supported by hearing holes drilled in the support g.

A lever m consisting of two arms, preferably made of a single piece ofsheet metal, is supported by the shaft is. Said support of the lever mis accomplished by having the shaft is pass through slots n in the twoparts of the lever m. The lever m is thus allowed to slide along perendicular to the shaft 77 the length of t eslots n. Mounted on the shaft7c and situated between the twomembers of 7 the lever m is a cam 0. Thecam 0 bears against a friction-reducing wheel p mounted on a shaft q.The shaft g is supported-by its bearings which consist of holes drilledin the two members of the lever m. A retractile coil-spring 1' isfastened at one end to the shaft is and at the other end to an extensionof the shaft 9, to thus cause the wheel ;0 to normally bear against thecam 0. At a point 3 on the lever m is attached a wire, preferably of thebraided or stranded type, which extends upward to an indicating devicesituated on the top of the tank. A shaft t is adjustment of the screw,the float 0 could be raised or lowered with respect to the lever m. Thisadjustment would make it possible to use thesame apparatus to measurecorrected volume of liquids differingslightly in density at the standardtemperatures.

Keepin in mind that my device is especially deslgned for use in tankswhose horizontal cross-sectional area varies at different heights, itsoperation is as follows; It is desired to have the indicating mechanismshow the level the liquid would have ifit were at a predeterminedstandard temperature regardless of the actual temperature. As a.

specific. case, let us consider an increase in temperature of the liquidabove the standard temperature. The liquid will expand andits levelrise. The density of, the liquid will decrease and thus the verticalfloat '2) will sink deeper with respect to the level of the liquid. Thefloat a, being a broad flat float, will rise as the level of the liquidrises; The point 8 on the lever m, to which is attached the wire whichleads to the indicating device, will assume aposition which indicates"the level of the float a (and thus that of the liquid) minus the depthto which the float 'v has sunk with respect to the surface of the liquiddue to the change in density multipl ed by the ratio of the leversrepresented by the distance from the shaft]:

.to the point sand from the shaft is to the. shaft t. The float 'v andthe cam o are so designed that this quantity subtracted is exactly equalto the increase in level caused by expansionof the liquid; The necessitfor the cam 0 can be easily seen, for the epth to which the float '0will sink with respect to the level of the liquid depends only, on thechange in density of the liquid. The-"change in level of the liquid fora definite change in density would be different for different levels;thus, in order to make the quantity subtracted always equal to thechange in level of the liquid, it is necessary to change the ratio ofthe lever arms. The cam, as seen in the diagrams, controls the ratioofthe lever arms and is designed so as to "vs the correct ratio at anylevel. The lengt of the wire, connected at the point 8 to lever m, fromthe point 3 to the indicating device at t top of the tank would thusdepend upon, t e level the liquid would have if it were at the standardtemperature.

A possible type of indicating device to be usedin connection with myinvention is The glass 6 is fastened on the outside by a ring threadedinto the casing 2, formed by bending the casing 2 over'the glass or bysome other similar means. The back 7 goeson the casing 2 as indicated.The face 4 and the back 7 are fastened to the'casin'g 2 by means ofscrews. 'The wire 8 which extends from the point 8 of the floatmechanism goes through the tube 1 and winds upon a drum 9. Drum 9 ismounted on a shaft 10 which is supported by its bearings 11 and 11. Saidbearings 11 and 11' consist of holes drilled in the face 4 and the back7. Connected at one endto the shaft 10 and at the-other to a pin' nismis kept constant regardless of the level of the point 8. In order todecrease thethickness of the indicating device, the sprlng 13 mightactually be inside of the drum 9. On

the shaft 10 is a pinion 14 which is in mesh 1 l .with a gear 15. Thegear 15 is mounted on a shaft 16 supported by its bearlngs 17 and 17which consists of holes drilled in the face 4 and the back 7. Theface-end of shaft 16 extends through the face and accommodates an.indicating hand 18. shaped as shown in the diagrams and holds a wire 19to facilitate accurate reading on a scale 20. Said scale 20 can becalibrated to read in units of weight or of corrected volume. The partshown in the drawing as scale 20 might consist of a circular scale anda' circular mirror. The circular mirror would eliminate any errors inreading the scale due to parallax. As the point 8 on the float mechanismrises or sinks, the wire winds up or unwinds from the drum 9. Thiscauses the hand 18 to move over thescale 20. The pos1- tien of the handthus indicates the by weight or by corrected volume, 0 uid in the tank.

What I claim as new is:

1. A li uid-measuring apparatus consisting of a oat-structure adapted torise and fall as .a whole with the level of the -l1qu1d to be measuredembodying two relativelymovable floats having different flotatloncapacities and therefore different immersing quantity, V the liq- Saidhand 18 is indicating-device by the up and down movement of said floa'.-structure as a whole, said means embodying devices for modifying saidactuation in accordance with the changes in the density and height ofthe liquid.

2. The structure defined in claim 1, said indicating-device embodying acable connected at one end to said means and a selfwinding drumconnected to the other end of said cable and acting to normally wind-upsaid cable and also to actuate the indicatingdevice.

3. The structure defined in claim 1, said modifying devices embodying alever and means for shifting its fulcrum with changes in the density ofthe li uid.

4. The structure de ncd in claim 1, said modifying device's embodying apivoted lever I and a cam for shifting said lever in order to shift itsfulcrum.

' 5. The structure definedin claim 1, said means embodying also a trainof gearing and signature.

EDWARD S. LAMAR.

